♪ ♪ narrator: funding for this presentation of this program is provided by... woman: architect. bee keeper. mentor. a raymond james financial advisor tailors advice to help you live your life. life well planned. woman: the rules of business are being reinvented with a more flexible workforce. by embracing innovation, by looking not only at current opportunities, but ahead to future ones. man: people who kn, know bdo.

narrator: funding was also provided by, the freeman foundation. by judy and peter blum kovler foundation; pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. and by contributions to this pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. announcer: and now, "bbc world news". >> u.s. abortin america. supreme court justice is ready to overturn roe v. wade with a new ruling that would affect millions of women. president biden has had this response. pres. biden no one can make the judgment to choose to abort a child based on a decision by the

supreme court. i think that is way overboard. >> there has never been a leak like this from the supreme court. we will look at the impact that it will have. in ukraine a humanitarian convoy carrying ukrainians to mariupol has arrived. women and children spent 60 days underground. >> from morning until night we were bombarded. our children couldn't sleep. they were crying. >> let'segin with a story dominating conversations in america. the u.s. supreme court leaked published by politico. injuries a draft opinion that shows the draft is an opinion of

the court. it has been confirmed as authentic by the supreme court. in some ways it can be summarized in one line. we hope that roe must be overruled. it refers to roe v. wade, a 1970 three decision that allows a constitutional right to abortion. any amount of reaction to show you, let's begin with president biden. pres. biden it is a radical decision. the underlying premise, i have not had a chance to early -- the report. it basically says all the decisions made, who you made, whether or not you decide to conceive a child or not, whether you have an abortion, a range of

other decisions, -- >> pro-choice and antiabortion -- antiabortionists gathered outside the supreme court. >> i thought they would try to constantly chip at roe v. wade and restrict access in stores mang it -- instead of completely making it up to the states.

>> abortion has not always been such a divisive issue in america. you can see that from this graphic. you can see how hostility toward the group -- towards abortion has grown. this draft being leaked from the supreme court relates to -- the court's ruling on a case in mississippi. the court's ruling to make it illegal to have all abortions at or after the -- after 50 weeks. it looks like the supreme court is in favor to have the justices to do that. individual states like mississippi should decide, there should be no nationwide guarantee of a right to abortion. the consequences of what that would be. >> what impact if it does become

law? over 20 states will be able to ban abortion. that will at that -- that will affect 36 million women across the country, restricting their safe access to abortion. incurring extra cost to travel out of state. something that many say will affect a low income and minority women disproportionately. >> let's look at the institution of the supreme court itself. nine justices serve a lifetime term. currtly there is a conservative majority. five we appointed by republican presidents, for by democratic presidents. this constitutional law expert says there is not. >> you would have to be wildly

naive to believe the supreme court is somehow a political body. there are concerted efforts that have been made to control and dictate who is going to end up on the supreme court. the position that people takon that role has been a litmus test for confirmation to the supreme court for quite some time now. >> the issue of abortion has come up in all of the recent supreme court justice appointments. activists warned that roe v. wade could be overturned and so that is true. this law professor says it is not right to see these appointments solely as being about politics. i don't subscribe to that paradigm. my opinion is that we do not haveonservative or liberal justices. these are not political positions.

the -- they are not people that make policy. they rule on the law. some of them take the position that when interpreting the causes you shod, you should not read things into it. you have to interpret the text as it is written. the other side of the aisle believet is a living, breathing document that evolves over time. that is really where the conflict comes into play. >> on that issue, how you interpret the constitution is very much evident in the story. justice alito has written, ro was egregiously wrong from the start. he goes on to say the right to an abortion is not deeply rooted in the nation's right and history. the right to an abortion is not explicitly written into the constitution. that is justice alito's view.

>> he would essentially go into a time capsule. was there robust access to an abortion when the 14th amendment was ratified? he concludes there was not a therefore there isn't any today. it is 1790 one, women could not vote, women had no access to property, they couldn't enter into contracts, they had no rights to their children. that is not a spshot of how american rights, with respect to women, should be measured today. and certainly the time capsule approach to think it is nowhere in the constitution itself. >> it is absolutely fundamental here.

five opponent justices voted in favor, three democratic appointed justices voted against. don't yet know how chief justice john roberts, who was also appointed by republican president will vote. the courts will make a final decision on this in june or july we are told. it is possible the position of the court may have evolved since then. we have seen more process today. they didn't necessarily tell us a representative demonstration of public inion. if you look at a year ago, 59% of americans say it should be legal, 39% think it should be illegal. if the supreme court were to overtone roe v. we, majority

of americans would support that. let's hear from them. >> the rights of all citizens would be upheld equally rather than one person being able to decide whether another person should live or die. >> one republican lawmaker, one democratic lawmaker who hds the opposite position. >> it is hard not to feel angry, troubled and deeply disturbed about what overturning roe would do to women across america. more than 20 states have laws or constitutional amendments in place that would outlaw abortions should the supreme court invalidate ro. over 80 million women live in those states. if the report is accurate, the decision would be an abomination. one of the worst ever in modern history. >> a little while ago i spoke to

our correspondent at the supreme court. >> remember elections have consequences as former president obama famously said. former president donald trump got three justices appointed to the united states. he was able to alter the balance of their cause. it is now a sixth record. six are conservative, only three are liberals. as you can see from this draft opinion, this is a seismic shift. if indeed this draft ruling does survive, democrats are talking about could they try to -- the roe v. wade, make it the law of the land. the fact is they don't have the votes to do that. senator susan collins, they are pro-aboron.

they are reportedly furious about justices who have signed onto this opinion is saying this isn't what they were told. they were told roe v. wade --. >> what would happen if roe v. wade is overturned. this means each american state would have a completely different policy from his neighboring state? >> absolutely. there are 50 states that make up the union. 22 of those states have prepared laws anticating that if roe v. wade were to fold this summer, these 22 conservative states would immediately enact laws that would make it virtually impossible to get an abortion. on the others of that equation,

14 liberal leaning states also have laws on their books which would codify the right to an abortion if roe v. wade falls. then you have those other states that haven't yet done anything about it. it will be a patchwork. you will be able to get an abortion in new york or california but not in texas, north dakota, south dakota. some women would go to mexico if they are in the southwest and they can get an abortion. they would go to canada from the midwest. roughly 900,000 women in the united states who seek an abortion in the united states, a deeply personal decision, two thirds of them are nonite women or low income. >> let's look aanother element of the story. that is the no drop decision of the supreme court has -- no draft decision of the supreme court has ever been leaked.

scotus -- on the supreme court says it mpossible to overstat the earthquake this will cause in the supreme court and the mistrust of justices and staff. this is the most unforgivable sin. chief justice robert says it is an egregious breach of that trust to the court. he added they will be investigating the leak. republicans are blaming democrats for that happening. here is republican in the senate, mitch mcconnell. >> last night it appears their campaign hit a new low. historically the justices, clerks and staff have prized and protected the courts confidentiality. justices must be able to discuss and deliberate in an environment

of trust and privacy. >> this was labeled the first draft. justice alito was taking a whack at coming up with a reasoning for the other four conservatives would agree with in trying to explain their reasoning to the public. that will go to somne else. those justices could say they disagree. the disnting justices could write their own opinion. some could propose a compromise. this proposal he circulated two months ago. there may have been many more opinions circulating since then that we just don't know about.

presumably the argument is if those kinds of things leaked, it will be, challenging for those justices to discuss things with each other. >> you see this impeding circulation of which side leaked it. as senator mcconnell just said trying to the court to do something else or was it the conservative side? might be getting cold feet and not ready to release something and ready to lock them into their positions. we just do not know. >> washington knows a thing or two about leaks, there have been a few over the years. how do you places in historically important leaks? >> it is huge for the supreme

court. after a decision comes out about deliberations or what went into making a decision, it is almost unheard of to know something in advance. roe itself had a little bit of that. there was a little bit of a release just before that decision came out about what it would say. usually those kinds of speculation, that kind of reporting doesn't happen. >> thanks to robert for that. in a few minutes, we get more details mariupol from those evacuations in mariupol mariupol in the south of ukraine. ♪ it was the met gala in new york. this year's theme was the gilded age. >> the biggest night in fashion,

the met gala is back. known ae oscars of the eased, it seems fitting the busiest theme is the golden area -- the golden era, the gilded age. others hearken to hollywood great. kim kardashian sparkled in the very same gown worn by marilyn monroe six decades ago when she serenaded president jf kennedy with happy birthday. the glitzy event is filled with stars of all kind. actors, models,ingers and elon musk. and it is all for charity. the party raises millions of dollars at the met costume institute with tickets costing $35,000 and tables going up to 300,000. the theme of luxury in excess seems fitting.

>> and the bbc news from here, the u.s. could leave the right to an abortion after a current ruling may be overturned. let's turn to the war in ukraine. a convoy was around 100 evacuees from mariupol has arrived in the city. this is a bus carrying women and children that made it to their destination. they had been tough a two day journey to get there. 60 days they had been holed up in the tunnels .

>> how we have been living was horrible. airstrikes, our children couldn't sleep. they were crying, they were scared. us as well. there were several times only were losin hope we would never get out. we are extremely glad to be in ukraine. >> we lived and hoped every day would be the last day in this hello and we would go home to a peaceful mariupol but now it is nonexistent. >> a small number of civilians were able to eape but even for them it was dangerous. ukrainians prime minister blames russia for that. >> russia did not now -- did not allow ukrainians to get -- russia did not want the international community that -- russia did not want the international community to see

that it would not allow our civilians to get out. >> ukrainian soldiers say russian forces have launched an assault again. troops trying to defend mariupol . ukraine is saying it is not sure how many soldiers are stationed there but russia has but the figure at 2000. here is the commander inside the plant. >> a powerful assam -- a powerful assault underway, russian forces using vehicles, tanks, a large number of infantry vehicles. we will do everything possible to repel this assault. we call for immediate action. >> d -- fire has stopped several

attempts to evacuate. women and children trapped under --. here is one of them talking about life there. half of the city is destroyed. where can i go? you wake up in the morning and you cry. you cry in the evening. i don't know where to go it all. >> russian forces are in control of the entire city in the steelworks. russian-backed separatists saying they will rebuild the city. a very serious, huge construction project is planned. we will be able to see in the very near future. it will begin as soon the issue and nationalists fully completed. >> we have seen ukrainian

resistance there over the last few weeks. russia is focusing its offenses. mariupol is just to the southwest corner of the dunbar region. let's speak to dr. patrick. who is live with us. a defense and security expert and former army officer. ank you indeed for joining us. how do you assess the situation at the steelworks. there may be some people watching wondering why the ukrainians are still fighting on given that they are surrounded. >> good evening. this is one of the things we often see in combat. isolated groups get cut off. they fall back to the most dependent part in the cities they are in and they hd out some times till last man. or the last round, whichever

comes first. sworn enemies of russia and complete enemies of each other are in that category. they will hold out. i wouldn't be surprised to see them fight on. i would not be surprised to see someone surrender. for the russians to get into this, it has elaborate underground tunnels. you are talking about what the germans used to call -- when they were fighting installing. it gets to that nitty-gritty urban terrain, three-dimensional warfare. if they really wanted to clear, and put pressuren them to surrender, it will take time. >> while that is the situation in mariupol, more broadly in the dunbar region, how do you assess what has occurred since they

announced they were focusing on the east? >> mariupol is important in terms of two things. it would allow them to move past the dunbar region and the safe that they hold. secondly, it will free up troops . the u.s. department of -- the u.s. department of defense -- it will take time. it does free some of them up to be rea for the attack on dunbar. dunbar, so far hasn't gone off in the way of a heavy, full-scale attack we were expecting. russia is trying to break through on a concentrated effort. i have made some advances into villages. ukrainians have managed a counterattack to push them back. to slow down the pace of the russians, you're trying to build

up their forces. ukrainians are really smart about taking on the russians right now. >> i have got to cut in here because i am right up against the edge of the program. if i don't interrupt you, i am afraid the program will. thank you for speaking us. that is it for this addition. thanks for watching. see you soon. by narrator: funding for this presentation of this program is provided by... narrator: financial services firm, raymond james. man: bdo. accountants and advisors. narrator: funding was also provided by, the freeman foundation. by judy and peter blum kovler foundation; pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. and by contributions to this pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. ♪ ♪

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♪ ♪ narrator: funding for this presentation of this program is provided by... woman: architect. bee keeper. mentor. a raymond james financial advisor tailors advice to help you live your life. life well planned. woman: the rules of business are being reinvented with a more flexible workforce. by embracing innovation, by looking not only at current opportunities, but ahead to future ones. man: people who know, know bdo.